Lucas finally finished reviewing all the rewards from this operation.
Overall, he was extremely satisfied.
The gains had far exceeded his expectations.
Still, after learning the hidden cost of prophecy, Lucas silently made a decision.
In the future, he would avoid making unnecessary prophecies whenever possible.
Even if the price for predicting others was relatively small with the system's help, a cost was still a cost.
Nothing in this world came completely free.
Now that everything was finally over, the tension Lucas had been carrying all day slowly disappeared.
The exhaustion hit him almost instantly.
Combined with the effects of Madam Pomfrey's potions, his eyelids gradually grew heavier and heavier.
Before long, Lucas drifted into sleep.
…
At the same time, deep within a forest nearly six miles away from the camp, a strange snake slowly slithered across the ground.
The creature moved silently between the trees.
Then suddenly, a faint human face appeared briefly across the snake's head like a transparent afterimage.
"Hsss… So this is where the Snake King called Nagini lives?"
Another snake hidden nearby hissed back cautiously.
"Hsss… This is Nagini's territory, yes. But the Snake King doesn't seem to be inside the nest right now."
"Hsss… Then I'll simply wait here for her to return. I need to take her away as quickly as possible."
The distorted face upon the snake's head flickered again.
"Hsss… Dumbledore actually came to Albania personally. Has he already discovered traces of me?"
Suddenly, the strange snake froze.
It turned its head sharply toward the forest behind it.
Standing there was a pale young man staring at it in horror.
…
"Dad, is there still no news about Lucas?"
"Not yet," Mr. Warley replied helplessly. "But Dumbledore personally went to rescue him. He'll definitely be fine."
"Did you arrange the Healer appointment I asked for?"
"Of course I did. Your father still has some influence, you know. Once St. Mungo's heard what Lucas had done, they immediately assigned one of their best Healers."
"And the room? Is everything prepared properly?"
"Your mother already had Kafi clean and prepare everything hours ago…"
After answering nearly identical questions over a dozen times, Mr. Warley finally grew suspicious.
A dangerous thought slowly emerged in his mind.
Could the precious daughter he had raised so carefully all these years possibly…
His expression darkened instantly.
Cassandra had never shown this level of concern for anyone before.
Including him.
…
When Lucas finally woke up, it was already nighttime.
The moment he quietly slipped out of the medical tent in hopes of avoiding Madam Pomfrey, he unexpectedly ran straight into Dumbledore.
Standing beside the Headmaster was a stout, balding middle-aged wizard dressed in expensive formal robes.
The man held a top hat respectfully in his hands. Apparently, even the Minister for Magic himself did not dare wear a hat in front of Dumbledore.
The instant the man saw Lucas, his eyes brightened.
He immediately stepped forward enthusiastically and shook Lucas's hand.
After Dumbledore introduced them, Lucas learned that this cheerful, overly polite man was none other than the newly appointed British Minister for Magic—
Cornelius Fudge.
Lucas exchanged a few polite words with him before Fudge prepared to leave. Apparently, a large number of reporters were already waiting for him nearby.
At Dumbledore's request—and Lucas's own insistence—Fudge had agreed not to publicly reveal Lucas's identity during the interviews.
Just as Fudge and Dumbledore prepared to depart, however, Lucas suddenly spoke.
"Minister," he said seriously, "if possible, I suggest you wear your hat later."
Fudge blinked in confusion.
"And… be careful of crows flying overhead."
After saying those strange words, Lucas was immediately caught by Madam Pomfrey before he could escape.
The furious matron dragged him back toward the medical tent while lecturing him nonstop about proper rest and recovery.
Lucas could only surrender helplessly.
Meanwhile, Fudge and Dumbledore continued walking toward the waiting reporters.
Then suddenly—
Caw!
A crow flew overhead.
Before Fudge could react, several white splatters fell perfectly onto his bald scalp.
Silence.
Fudge froze.
Dumbledore froze.
The two men slowly turned to look at each other.
Then they simultaneously remembered Lucas's earlier warning.
Wear your hat.
Watch out for crows.
Dumbledore sighed softly before smiling in amazement.
"Lucas truly continues to surprise me," he murmured. "So he possesses the gift of prophecy as well…"
"Exactly!" Fudge exclaimed excitedly while frantically cleaning his head with a Scouring Charm. "A genuine prophet! Merlin, the wizarding world hasn't seen someone with prophetic talent in many years!"
The Minister's eyes practically sparkled.
At that moment, he immediately decided that he absolutely had to build a close relationship with Lucas in the future.
Having a prophet as an ally would be incredibly useful for his political career.
Fortunately, his first impression on the boy today seemed fairly positive.
Dumbledore, however, immediately became serious again.
He instructed Fudge not to reveal Lucas's prophetic abilities publicly.
After all, Lucas was still too young. Public knowledge of such rare talent could easily place him in danger.
Fudge naturally agreed at once.
In truth, when Lucas shook hands with Fudge earlier, several fragmented images had suddenly flashed through his mind.
He had seen Fudge getting struck directly by bird droppings.
This appeared to be another ability unlocked after his Divination skill reached Level 3.
By touching someone physically, he could occasionally receive random prophetic visions related to them.
The ability itself was completely uncontrollable and triggered unpredictably.
Fortunately, because these visions happened naturally, they carried no cost.
As for the warning he gave Fudge earlier…
That had absolutely been intentional.
Lucas wanted Dumbledore to witness his prophetic talent firsthand.
This way, if he accidentally revealed future information later on, he would already possess a perfectly reasonable explanation.
As for whether news of his prophetic abilities might eventually spread, Lucas trusted Dumbledore to handle things properly.
And honestly…
Even if word did leak out eventually, Lucas was no longer too worried.
Very few people in the wizarding world could truly threaten him anymore.
And from this point onward—
He would only continue growing stronger.
....
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